Alexi Pappas Seeks Competitive Opportunities As Greek Athlete

After her NCAA eligibility was up in 2013 at the University of Oregon, Alexi Pappas knew she wanted to continue running professionally. Her athletic goals have remained simple: to compete in as many major international competitions as possible and be at peak fitness for them.

In the United States, the path to top meets on global stages isn’t easy. American distance running is deep with talent and Pappas is one of a dozen runners who can reach Olympic time standards, but don’t always finish in the top three to qualify for the national teams going to the world championships and the Games.

“I can see so many athletes who trained for years and are definitely fit enough to compete on the world stage, but they don’t get the opportunity,” Pappas said. “It comes down to, why am I doing this sport? For me I want to inspire as many people as possible while competing at the highest level—and be at my highest athletic performance when I’m doing that.”

Years ago it dawned on Pappas, who specializes in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, that her Greek nationality might pave the way to realizing her career dreams. She announced last week that she would now be competing for Greece, although she’ll remain in Eugene, Oregon, representing Oregon Track Club Elite, and training under coach Ian Dobson. She also receives support from TrackTown USA, a nonprofit organization that produces events, including the upcoming world indoor championships.

“I’ve always known that by birth that I’m eligible to be a dual citizen. It was only recently that I began to run these Olympic qualifying times. As that started happening, I knew that I had a choice to make on which country I would compete for,” she said. “It is not a decision that happened overnight—it was a very thoughtful process of figuring out what it meant and talking to my mentors in the sport a lot, many of them Olympians.”

Pappas, who turns 26 this month, ran for Dartmouth College until 2012, then transferred to Oregon. Since graduating, she’s run a 32:02.22 for 10,000 meters and last month ran a 9:05.12 for 3,000 meters indoors (her first attempt at the distance). She needs a 9:00.00 to qualify for the IAAF World Indoor Championships, which begin on March 17, in Portland, Oregon. She’ll be going after that standard this weekend at the “World’s Last Chance” meet in New York and if she achieves it, hopes to be selected to her first Greek team.

Pappas already has beaten the 32:15.00 Olympic qualifying time in the 10,000 meters, but will need to run that time again as a Greek athlete to make the team competing at the Rio Games in August. At the 2012 Olympics, Greece had no women qualified to run the 5,000 or 10,000 meters.

“I am not going to the Olympics yet, but that is the goal,” she said.

Pappas isn’t the only U.S.-based athlete who has connected with her heritage and decided to compete for a different country. In 2012, Diego Estrada, who was born in Mexico, raised in California, and ran for Northern Arizona University, ran the 10,000 meters for Mexico in London (a citizen since 2011, he now competes for the U.S.). Aisha Praught, a steeplechaser for the Oregon Track Club Elite, became a Jamaican citizen last year (her birth father is Jamaican).

For Pappas, the choice wasn’t only about athletic pursuits. Her family has been enthusiastic, too.

“On a personal note, it really makes my Greek family very proud. My grandma—my YiaYia—has been really sick lately and this has totally uplifted her,” she said. “She would have been proud of me no matter what, but this is truly special and has meant a lot to her and my family.”

In May, Pappas will travel to Greece to compete in the national track championships. She’ll also stay to visit with her extended family, who mostly live on the island of Rhodes.

“I imagine I will spend more time in Greece than I have before,” she said. “I’m excited for that. It’s exciting to have been there and seen the Olympic stadium and a lot of things that get you motivated as a young athlete to keep doing it.”

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